Unaccountable and out of control

It’s unaccountable and it’s once again out of control. Rampaging across Scotland’s political landscape, this media beast is roaring on behalf of its Union masters and the noise is deafening.

I refer of course to BBC Scotland. The institution has gone into hyper mode as it seeks to promote the cult of Ruth and kill off Indyref2.

It’s been non-stop since last Thursday when Ruth Davidson won an historic victory in the general election in Scotland. Ruth’s Scottish Conservative party won a massive thirteen seats to the SNP’s paltry thirty five. Her win means a second independence referendum is dead in the water. I know because I heard David Mundell say so on BBC News at Ten.

BBC Scotland has resurrected Ruth Davidson’s general election campaign. The corporation picked up the ‘No Indyref2’ baton without missing a step.

On Wednesday morning radio host Kaye Adams urged people to call in to her ignorant bigot-fest of a phone-in show with the following trail: “Is it time to take a second independence referendum off the table?”

Note how Kaye’s clarion call was immediately followed by the Radio Scotland news which just happened to contain an item linking the aforementioned second independence referendum to economic woes.

BBC Scotland is engaging in the act of undermining Scotland’s democratically elected government. The broadcaster is ignoring the result of the general election and, instead of acknowledging the mandate of the winning party, it is promoting the demands of the parties that lost.

Running in parallel with this attempt to delegitimise the result of both the 2016 Scottish election and last week’s general election is a glorification of Ruth Davidson who led her party to defeat in that general election.

The veneration of Ruth Davidson has reached hysteria levels at BBC Scotland. The corporation has bestowed on her a status afforded only heads of government.

Footage of her smiling triumphantly as she left Downing Street led Reporting Scotland on Monday. Presenter Jackie Bird told viewers: “The Scottish Conservative leader attends Cabinet at Downing Street and says the government’s position on Brexit must change.”

Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives returned thirteen MPs, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP returned thirty five. Yet the First Minister played second fiddle to an MSP who carries no mandate whatsoever for Scotland. Moreover, Ruth Davidson has finished a distant second to Nicola Sturgeon in three successive elections.

The same programme also featured the continued assault on the SNP’s democratically won mandate to hold a second independence referendum. Glenn Campbell led the assault which included searching out any former Scottish government minister willing to challenge the wisdom of a second indyref. The programme featured SNP MSP Alex Neil.

Neil’s comments weren’t news, he said the same thing months ago. But when you’ve an agenda to pursue then anything will do.

So desperate was Glenn Campbell to get hold of any SNP figure to bolster the anti-Indyref2 argument that he even went as far as telephoning a former SNP MSP Marco Biaggi in Senegal. You can hear that particular clip below.

The clip above let’s you see how Campbell constructs his ‘news’ reports. He starts with an agenda then fills it. The opportunistic inclusion of a mediocre story from The Herald is classic Campbell. If it aids his agenda it’s in. A journalist he isn’t.

Alex Neil and Marco Biaggi weren’t the only SNP figures be handed a platform courtesy of BBC Scotland.

Kenny MacAskill, growing ever bitter since his own departure from front line politics, called for the SNP’s Chief Executive to go.

On Tuesday Glenn Campbell was still doing his best to strengthen the ‘No Indyref2’ argument further. Listen to the clip below and marvel at the number of times he or his BBC colleague Mhairi Stuart mention either independence or a second referendum.

Glenn Campbell appeared on Reporting Scotland that evening and presented a near carbon copy of his radio item.

BBC Scotland even went as far as to try to imply a second independence referendum, specifically brought to life by the disaster that is Brexit, could be damaging Scotland’s economy. Listen to Good Morning Scotland presenter Gary Robertson in this clip as he interviews Scotland’s economy minister Keith Brown.

This was and still is relentless propaganda. As I write this it’s still going on. Below is the intro from tonight’s [Wednesday] Reporting Scotland.

The basis for claiming a second independence referendum is harming the Scottish economy isn’t given. For the simple reason that there isn’t any. Jackie Bird, like Gary Robertson, is merely parroting Unionist politicians’ attack lines. Below is a segment of Brian Taylor’s report from the same Reporting Scotland item.

An incessant attack on Scottish democracy is being carried out by a so-called public service broadcaster. Remember that the SNP won a majority of Scottish seats in this Westminster general election. Notwithstanding some significant losses, they emerged with more seats than all three Unionist parties combined.

Yet British Nationalist losers are setting the news agenda by dint of having refused to accept the result. They’re also trying to erase the democratic mandate won by the SNP in the 2016 Holyrood election. And there’s the rub. We’re watching democracy being strangled.

It’s not a coup but it’s as close as you can get to it without removing the party of government. If Nicola Sturgeon was to bow to this media assisted pressure then why bother with elections at all? Just hand power to the loudest shouter. How long til we regress to the point where we settle differences with a battle?

This is where we have got to in Scotland. Careerist reporters reading pre-prepared scripts written by Unionist politicians. The ‘news’ narrative has already been determined. The ‘bad’ guys are the SNP.

In this new political era it isn’t votes that win elections, it’s apparently momentum. It isn’t voters who bestow mandates, it’s reporters. The TV has replaced the ballot box. The Scottish Government sits at Pacific Quay.

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34 thoughts on “Unaccountable and out of control”

72% of Scotland rejected the Tories. That’s a big number. Yet we now have another Tory government. So democracy at WM has not moved on since the beginning of time. It doesnt matter that the Tories won 13 seats. We all voted for other parties in the majority.

But Scotland chose the Snp in the biggest numbers as England chose Tory in the biggest numbers.

So yet again we have a WM government that only a quarter of Scots voted for.

The media are destroying democracy. They are trying to create a backlash against indy ref 2, when it should be against Brexit.

They are propping up the Tories and pursuing dissenters. They are now going to paint a fantasy that the DUP aren’t neanderthals, they are just misunderstood.

Another great article, GAP! Any further forward on that idea you mention in your previous article? By-the-way, if Slapheed Campbell was hard pushed to find someone credible to badmouth the idea of Indyref2 why didn’t he simply go for the truthful angle?

He could have had his pick of around 25,000 individuals at a recent pro-Indy march in Glasgow. Anyone of those individuals would soon have let him know how much of a demand for Indyref2 there truly is, and he might even have got a wee Glesga kiss or two and i don’t mean the affectionate variety. 😀

Scotland is denied its democracy by a well oiled BRITISH Unionist bunch of so called journalists who are not balanced by any independence voices even if the majority of Scots voted for independent parties! Until a proper Scottish media reflecting those views are created, the BBC propaganda will fill our screens and radios! Scots are being lied to by an increased number of facts manipulations and biaised rethorics

What to do? Sites like this and the small numbers cancelling their licence fee’s, are a step in the right direction, but it’s still not nearly enough!

Docuumentries have been made, poster campaigns etc, it doesn’t get through to the masses and only appears to push the bbc further into bias reporting. There is no question in my mind, we would have an independent country already if the media pushed it. Their negative slant on the SNP has been horrendus, but again, what to do?

We need a new direction to rectify this issue. Complaining online might help reduce the frustration felt maybe, but it’s not enough! The media has always absorbed complaints with ease. Reality must be faced I feel before a successful course of action can be found. Regrettably, the SNP media machine is not functioning as well as it could. I have written to my local MP concerning this problem, but as expected, I was told my ideas were interesting 😀

I’ve never voted for anyone until the 2014 ref and since then I’ve voted for the SNP. For me personally, voting for anyone was like giving my stamp of approval to the illusion of democracy. There can be democracy with the political and media system this country allows. And allow we do, we vote for it and buy the rags! Again, what to do? Can anything be done? Complaining Twitter feeds come and go as do poticans! The system can weather it all and does! Voting for the lessor of the evils has never been an option for me. I did consider the SNP to be valid and not Just the lessor of the evils, hence my reluctant voting. I have been thinking that if they don’t get a grip of the media, invalid they might well become! They’re being slowly destroyed and their response to this appears to be denial or the usual weak tick for tack response. It’s not enough and completely in the wrong direction. What is the right direction, into the fire, not skirting around it. They can’t use the system set out to discredit them, they are playing the game, don’t play the game!

Anyway, I must apologise. I went on a wee bit. Just another moan that, in time, will disappear into the online fog of complaints and Twitter feeds.

I only listen to Radio Scotland, don’t do TV, and have indeed given up paying the licence – but even me that hardly watches the TV anyway found it difficult to give it up. I can’t believe many people willingly pay for their TV watching twice (like getting sky as well as pay the licence). They really do need to bring the system up to date, why shouldn’t I be allowed to watch live TV of non-BBC origins without a licence? Maybe I can,,, just not that interested! Some of my giving up paying was ideological as well, but it was more to do with their fear-mongering in general (sensationalising negative news on terrorism & NHS mainly).

I had hoped we’d hear the end of the constant, incessant, banging on about no-second-referendum with the end of GE – but no, indeed, Radio Scotland has been relentless, along with their own warped idea that a couple of Tory MPs represent the majority of Scots. It is tiring. And fear-mongering. They are scared & so will ensure the entire Scottish population is too. Sad that it has become so shrill and obvious.

I heard a few bits of the phone-in on no-referendum, and they did have a few yes-referendum people on. Kaye Adams reacted with hostility to a caller that criticised the BBC, kind of what we expect. But I was shocked when a caller, Yvonne I think, was allowed to talk at length about how she thought there should be a second referendum, and received no hostility or barely discernible ‘mmm’s. I think anyway, didn’t catch all of it.

Did anyone hear the show at 11am (I was busy with the day job) yesterday? It was about bias – Kaye said she was surprised by the results of an online test she took,,, what was she surprised about?? After the EU referendum last year she had on a seriously bigoted interviewee, with who she agreed on many points – I was sick to my stomach listening to it, swore at the radio and had to switch it off. So the question is, exactly how extreme are Kaye Adams’ views that she thinks her reporting is in any way balanced?

I think that question could be asked about most BBC reporters. If they are denying being biased,,,, they must have such extreme right-wing anti-other people personal opinions that they believe they are balanced? Criticism just seems to create hostility though – so,,, the only solution might be the dissolution of the BBC institution? I want a replacement radio show for the morning, without music, though. Therein lies the problem, so many of us are still reliant to some extent. There must be a solution to the incessant negative propaganda – but a reliable replacement is needed I think, offering just to take something away will not be attractive to most people.

I am just rambling through thoughts here, you never know, an idea for a strategy sometimes springs to mind. Not yet for me though!

I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said, ” If we do not hang together, we will undoubtedly hang separately”.
This is obviously the latest attempt by the British State Broadcaster to derail Indyref2. It’s a tactic long used over many centuries by the U.K Government to try to divide a people, ensuring their continued rule over what they consider to be their subjects.
Because the unionist parties, over the past ten years, have lost out continuously at the ballot box, the B.B.C, the anointed broadcasting defender of the U.K, have to find another way to discourage us from pursuing the path to independence.
This they will attempt to do so by using a tactic that has been used for centuries by the British Establishment, brainwashing their subjects into believing something that isn’t, actually is, and even in this day and age, many people still believe what they say.
That coupled with the press releases from the Scottish Government which never see the light of day because they paint an accurate picture of how the S.N.P are trying to improve all our lives, amounts to censorship, but will never be portrayed as such by a unionist cabal determined to hold us fast to Westminster for ever more.
I’m afraid the reality of the situation is that we will have to gain our independence the hard way, because the B.B.C aren’t going away, and their propaganda will only increase when the date of Indyref2 is announced, so be prepared folks, it’s going to be a rough ride with us demonised at every opportunity.

A lot of people are very tetchy right now , not just because of the pretty poor results of the general election , its because of the hits we have been taking for months now , we on here dont have the opportunity to return with interest all this flack , but others do , the SNP and any spokesperson for the SNP need to challenge the State broadcaster head on , stop being nice and pleasant , most here could make a better show than some of the people we have heard recently , the upper management have to take action or we wont have anything to take action on if this continues .

We’ve all seen London calling right. If not, it’s available to watch on YouTube.

A legal investigation into the BBC corruption by the SNP doesn’t sound like a bad idea, as a start. The masses don’t know what’s going on behind the headlines, not even about how to cook broccoli 😀 The people need to know that they’ve been played.

All the BUM rags are at it Marga! They’re all commercial enterprises with very strong connections to, and interests in, London and Westminster. They are under no legal obligation to tell the truth and most people don’t realise that important fact.

However, the BBC is a different kettle of fish and it needs to be exposed at every opportunity for what it truly is – the London establishments lying and deceiving propaganda mouthpiece. Its regular bias, deception and lying must be exposed.

I watched Sky News reporting. Adam Boulton. After a gushing introductory piece about Ruth Davidson, he went on to mention “Ruth Davidson’s opposite number, Nicola Sturgeon”!!!
A deliberate avoidance of the fact that Nicola Sturgeon is First Minister of Scotland. All part of the insidious propaganda.

Questions over the influence of fake news has led Google and Facebook to promise to curb its spread.

Malicious campaign

In its report, Trend Micro looked at Russian, Chinese, Middle Eastern and English language sites offering all kinds of services based around manipulating social media, search engines and news organisations.

The services on offer included:
Creating celebrities
Sparking social unrest including demonstrations
Discrediting journalists
Putting sustained pressure on elections or political parties.

Some of the services profiled gave very detailed breakdowns of what could be done to influence political debate or manipulate the media.

Just checked out the SNP’s twitter feed – something I rarely do as it’s pretty anodyne stuff, almost entirely devoted to what the SNP are doing. The only comments challenging Unionist positions were from Nicola – she seems to be carrying quite a load. I’d like to see them being much more feisty in calling out Unionist and Media lies and distortions. if they did maybe more people would look at what they have to say and in so doing they might then also get a clearer idea of what the SNP are doing on ‘the day job’ as well.

It csnt be the SNP which challenges the BBC. They would love that and portray rhe SNP as trying to stifle free speech. The nazi spurs would be used as they were after rhe peaceful protest outside the BBC just before the vote,
The protest has to come from individuals.
A crowd funded legal action taken on by a principled advocate would start the ball rolling .
But we are up against very powerful vested interests and big money. They are not going to want their prime weapon the BBC to be changed in any way shape or form. Its worth millions of votes to them.
We need to remind people that the treatment meted out to Jeremy Corbyn is the evidence of the bias that we have been looking for.

The SNP are right to take the high road on this but behind the scenes they must be prepared to at least take into account the fact that the other side are going to play dirty and take account of that.

Its quite obvious now that all this talk of no snap election was designed to give the conservatives time to amass a war chest and get the tactical voting plan ready to spring into action.

A follow up point.
There are at least two master strategists and highly respected individuals now freed up from their duties in the Hof Commons.
Lets hope we see a lot more of them very soon. Also people like Joanna Cherry are hidden away at Westminster and I would have liked to see her have a more prominent role as leader of the SNP at Westminster.

The SNP needs to get more of its bug guns out there and show how talented this party is.
No matter how good Nicola Sturgeon is , she is one woman and a mix of styles and pesonalities cna only be good.

We shouldn’t be in the least surprised. We who want to bin the obsolescent British state will never get fairness, btw an anglo conceit, from the ‘nation’s’ broadcaster. We are the subversives. About time ‘we’ were actually more subversive, more ‘scary’ than we currently are. Our slogan….¡NO PRISONERS!

There is more to BBC Scotland’s behaviour than merely political bias…it may have escaped everyone’s attention but should Scotland become independent there would be no more licence fees approx £350 million if you take away the £150 million BBC Scotland receives for programming that leaves approx £200 million a year gone a begging from the BBC coffers…that’s not loose change and a very good reason for the BBC to oppose Scottish independence…

The trouble will the SNP is they are not big enough LAIRS. Just look at the lies that all the other parties bar none , come away with, and people believe them. Probably because they want to. If you repeat a lie often enough it will be believed. However the SNP has integrity which in this day and age is a rare thing !

A TWITTER account containing racist, homophobic and sectarian remarks – which belonged to a fisherman photographed with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson on the campaign trail last week – has been closed down.

“somebody should take the Nat bitch out” and “somebody take her down please.”

Using the name Mulder1981, Majury has compared the SNP to Nazis, and accused Nicola Sturgeon of spending too much time talking about gay marriage.

If the BBC and their establishment masters carry on in this vein so that people realise they will never get a fair crack at democracy then it is all too clear that the next stage in Scotland’s quest for independence from these monsters will be to regress from peaceful means of protest at the strangulation of our democratic rights.

Unfortunately all countries which had to fight the UK establishment for freedom had to resort to violence. Canada & Australia did not have to fight as in Canada’s case, the UK bully was not prepared to take on its best pal, the USA bully and in Australia’s case, the UK bully did not want Oz. It did not know then of its rich reserves in minerals or matters would have been very different.

OK, so, I wrote on this very topic to the Scottish Minister responsible, asking that the Scottish Government commission an independent watch-dog/bias checker/fact checker.
Well guess what, my mail was passed to some low level flunky, who, then tells me to go to Offcom!
The SNP and Scottish Government are not interested.